Lisa,
Are you confusing this Dr. Susan with Dr. Susan Winn?
t
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
<<<This reply form Kate is actually FAR more closer to what I understood
PCR to be...much more accurate as long as done correctly, and used more
often in research...but either way..more accurate...and it tests the genetic
materials for the cat as to see any infection at all....I found (please no
offense!!) Dr. Susan's answer to be dated.(as well as her article on WINN)
>>>
Dated in what way?
It is a mistake to assume that a new technique such as PCR is more accurate
than exisiting methods until that has been confirmed. It turned out not to
be more accurate when done by commercial labs for diagnosis of FIV, and work
done at the University of Guelph suggests that PCR for FeLV may not be any
better. So much depends on the! lab and how their primers are designed, how
the sample is collected, handled and shipped, and how the lab implements
quality control. A lot of variables! I have visited commercial PCR labs and
talked with the scientists. I am doing an ongoing research project with one
of them, and with two university labs doing PCR.
I doubt you'd find very many infectious disease or feline specialists right
now who would recommend PCR for diagnosis of FeLV on a routine basis, and
certainly not from commercial labs. If you contemplate using a PCR lab for
diagnosis of FeLV, ask them to give you their test's sensitivity,
specificity, negative and positive predictive values and compare these
numbers to those published for the ELISA tests. You'll be surprised - first
surprised if the lab even knows these statistics for their own test, and
then surprised at the comparison especially when the tests are evaluated by
independent researchers.
The potential pi! tfalls of commercial labs doing PCR are well documented. I
have direct, first-hand experience with what can happen when vets use
commercial labs for PCR diagnosis of infectious diseases. I have published
on this topic in peer-reviewed journals in 2004 and presented my findings at
veterinary conferences. I will be doing many lectures for vets around the
U.S. this year on diagnosis of FeLV and FIV. I better not be dated!
Dr. Susan
Chapter Author, A Home Veterinary Guide, in:
The CFA Complete Cat Book
http://www.cfainc.org/catalog/books.html#completecatbook
Feline Reproduction Manual:
http://catvet.homestead.com/ReproCD.html
__^^__^^__^^__^^__^^__^^
Susan Little, DVM
Diplomate ABVP (Feline)
Bytown Cat Hospital
Ottawa, Canada
http://catvet.homestead.com
__^^__^^__^^__^^__^^__^^
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